Suction pickup rotor for seed dispensing machines



y 1950 E. c. ENEBECK 2,505,758

SUCTION PICKUP ROTOR FOR SEED DISPENSING MACHINES Filed D80. 29, 1944 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet l k w g? Ffil r= 1 lk o o o o \Q 11;: O O O E O Q K o o o o o 0 o o o o Inventor May 2, 1950 E. c. ENEBECK SUCTION PICKUP ROTOR FOR SEED DISPENSING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 29, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 E. c. ENE/BECK II I WI May 2, 1950 SUCTION PICKUP ROTOR FOR SEED DISPENSING MACHINES Filed Dec. 29, 1944 May 2, 1950 E. c. ENEBECK SUCTION PICKUP ROTOR FOR SEED DISPENSiNG MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 29, 1944 2mm and Patented May 2, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUCTION PICKUP ROTOR FOR SEED DISFEN SING MACHINES Emil C. Enebeck, Boise, Idaho Application December 29, 1944, Serial No. 570,401

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to seed dispensing devices for planters, and has more particular reference to a device cf this kind wherein a rotary suction wheel is employed for continuously picking up the seeds in the required number for delivery to the discharge pipe by means of which the seed are deposited in the furrow.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a dispensing device of the above kind wherein the rotary seed pick-up wheel is mounted in the seed receptacle and provided with peripheral air inlet openings so that the seeds are picked up and held to the periphery of the wheel by suction for being subsequently stripped from the periphery of the wheel and directed into the discharge pipe.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a seed dispensing device of the above kind wherein the pick-up wheel is provided with a removable and adjustable peripheral seed ring that may be adjusted to vary the number of seeds successively picked up and delivered to the discharge pipe, and adapted to be removed to permit the selective use of the desired one of a number of different seed rings having openings of different sizes so that the device may be adapted for effectively handling diiierent kinds and sizes of seeds.

A further object is to provide means to regulate the degree of suction provided in the pick-up wheel so that the seeds picked up will be lightly but effectively held to the periphery of the Wheel until stripped therefrom.

Further objects are to provide simple and emcient means for agitating the seeds in the seed receptacle so that the same may be readily picked up by the suction wheel, and to provide a simple and efficient blade for stripping the seeds from the periphery of the pick-up wheel and directing the same into the discharge pipe.

Still further objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the drawings and claimed.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a top plan view of a seed dispensing device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view thereof taken on line 2--2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section taken substantially on the plane of line 6- 1 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the outlet spout and the adjacent end of the discharge pipe.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view looking at the peripheral portion of the pick-up wheel.

Figure '7 is an elevational view of the agitator, and

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the blade for stripping the seeds from the pick-up wheel and directing them to the discharge pipe.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates a suitable seed receptacle comprising a main lower portion or section and an upper cover section 6 hinged to the main section, as at l. The lower section of the receptacle preferably has part of its bottom wall inclined, as at i, from one side of the receptacle toward the other. At the latter side, the receptacle is deepest, and in the bottom of this deepest portion there is provided a clean-out opening provided with a removable closure plug 8. A bearing 9 is carried by the side wall of receptacle 5 at the side of the latter which is deeper, and journaled in the bearing, as well as projecting inwardly through the adjacent side of the receptacle 5, is a, hollow or tubular shaft Iii having a hollow disc-like rotary seed pick-up wheel I! secured on the end thereof within the receptacle 5 adjacent the side wall of said receptacle 5 which carries the bearing 9. A swivel connection I l' is provided between the out-er end of the shaft l0 and the adjacent end of a suction pipe !2 that leads to a suction fan or blower, not shown. A suitable damper i3 is provided in the pipe G2 to regulate the volume of air drawn through said pipe. Also, the pipe l2 has a bleeder valve I l that opens to the atmosphere and by means of which additional air may be admitted to the pipe l2 to regulate the suction which maintains in said pipe l2. Secured on the shaft I0 is a pulley IE, or the like, by means of which power may be transmitted to said shaft H] for driving the later and the rotary pick-up wheel I l.

The pick-up wheel 5 l comprises two sections 16 and I! having marginal lateral annular flanges l8 and I9 that telescope one within the other, said sections being detachably secured together by suitable means, as at The inner flange 58 of the section I? is provided with a circular series of uniformly spaced and uniform transverse rows of apertures 2 I, and the flange Hi of the section I5 is provided with similar rows of apertures, as at 3 22. In addition, the flange 19 has additional rows of apertures 22a and 22b between the rows of apertures 22, the number of apertures in the rows 22a and 22b being different and lesser than those in the rows 22. For example, the row 22a consists of one aperture, that at 2212 of two apertures, and those at 22 three apertures. The flange I9 is rotatable relative to the circular wall of the section l6 whichcarries the same, as well as being detachable from said circular wall. For this purpase, the circular Wall of section i6 may be provided with arcuate slots, as at 23, and screws-24 are passed through these slots and threaded into the flange I9 to secured the latter in-..place. :lBy loosening the screws 2 the flange ll may be rotatabl adjusted relative to its disc-like carrying wall, whereby any desired row of. apertures of the flange I9 may be registered withthe rows of apertures 2i of the flange l8. For instance-,-when the rows 22 are registered with the rows 2i, the

wheel is set to pick up. three seeds, at a time-in each row. On the other hand, by further adjustment 1-"'0f the flange ,l,:-apertures 232d may; be registered with one aperture jof each row; 2i so that theseeds are picked-up-one-at. a time. 1 If rows 'iibare reg-; ypsistered with two apertures of eachgrow 2!, the

wheel will pick up two; seeds. at a time. Inaddi- -..tion,..the flange .!9.may be provided with additional large aperturesfi. between the rows 22 and :221) so asltoladapt this seed ring or flange l9 for;

picking up larger seeds one at a time when. the

:, apertures 25- are registered respectively with one .1 aperture 2! ofzeach row-provided in the flange l8. 3 Obviously, the apertures will "be slightly smaller vthan the seeds being ,planted,=and.the flan e l9; 5 may be removed and in-terchangeably'usedwith 1; different seed rings having openings of difierent sizes to take-care of the many different types of seeds that may be planted. -Removal ofscrews 2'2 permits this detachment of the seed. ring or.

flange l9, and the proper seed ringwill enablev the seeds tobe picked up by suction so that. they will 1 be effectively held to the periphery of the-pickup wheel, one for each aperture of ring t 9. that is r-registered withan aperture M of flange 13. At the same time,.'the seedswill not materially-project, into. the aperturesof the ring or flange 19, :.so thattheymay. be readily stripped'orscraped .vfromthe peripheryof the wheel i i atthe proper ptime'for discharge fromthe-receptacle 5. To iagcilitate the adjustment of ring or-flange liLrelative to'thesection i'i, theziatter isprovidedwith a plurality ofperipheral notches-E55 arranged to "5 coactwith an indicator mark 2'! provided-on the .xring or'flange :19. The arrangement i 'such that wwhen the-mark 2'lgis registered with one, notch 25, a. the wheel-is set to deliver three seeds at. atime because the rows of apertures, 22 are registered :with 'the apertures'iil. The second notch will -register withthemark 2i whenthe-wheel is 'set to :deliver seeds one at; a time, or when the aper- 'tures 22a are registered with one aperture of each row. 2i. 1;". notch" 25, the wheel 'will'pick up two seeds at a ftime because the pertures 22b, are'then registered with certain of; the openings .ll. Mark 2? regi'sters with the fourth notch 26 when an, opening 2 l. ofzeachrow is registered with one large open- ;,:-ing. 25,;tl1e Wheelbeingthenl adapted for planting yzla'rger seeds one at a time.

When themark Zl aligns with the third A the pick-up wheel it rotates, thev seeds are ,-.-stripped from the-periphery of said wheel at the upper portionof the receptacle 5 by means of an 'inclined.;,stripper blade .2 8 ,,,that extends downawardlyirom the-wheel to a discharge spout 29 wardly into-spout 29, frornwhich the seeds pass by gravity to and through the pipe 30.

It will thus be seen that the present dispensing .i device provides for the deposit of any selected number of seeds at regular intervals. Because ..of the constant exhaustion of air from the receptacle 5 due to the suction within the Wheel H,

. the top of the receptacle may be provided with air inlet openings, as at 3 I.

'It is desirable and often necessary to con- ,;stantlyagitate the seeds in the lower portion of the receptacle 5 so that they will properly feed to andwill be properly picked up by the wheel I I. For this purpose,v a longitudinally curved agitatin fork 32 is mounted adjacent to and substantially concentric with a lower portion of thewheel ll, said ,fork having. a longitudinal .series of teeth 33 on the inner or upper surfaces of the prongs thereof. The lower ends of the. prongs. ,oflagitator, .32 are slidably disposed. in slotsof a guide 34, and said agitator is given a longitudinal sliding and vertical swinging movement byopera- -tively connecting the other end of thesame, as at .35, to a crankS a driven from the shaft). The

bearing 9- supportsa secondary -bearing. 31 .in which is journaleda .shaft .38 that. ,projects into the receptacle. 5 and has the crankl36 secured on the end thereof withinsaid receptacle. The outer end. of shaft 38 carries asprocket wheel 39, and an endlesssprocketchain Mlpasses around action of the pick-up wheel.

the sprocket wheel 39. as well as around another sprocket wheel 4! secured on the shaft I Thus, as the pick-up wheel is driven, the agitator is, also driven to keep theseeds loose and insure proper Theseeds are introduced into the lower section ofthereceptacle 5 when the coversection 6 is opened, and any suitable provision may be-made to facilitate-removal of the chain MLwhen opening-of the receptacle is desired. Dirt and other foreignmatter orseeds not usedmay be readily drain from the receptacle through: theclean-outopening closed .by the plug 8.

From the foregoing'description, it is believed that the construction andoperation, :as well as the advantages of the present, invention, will be readily understood and appreciated by. those skilled in'the art. It will be apparent that the device is convenient to use and comparatively simple and durable in construction. The seeds are efiectiveiy, picked up by the action of suction devices-comprising two sections having lateral annular marginal iianges,.one telescoping within the other, means to separably connect said-sections, the inner flange having uniformly spaced rows of uniform openings therein, the outer flange being rotatable relative to its carrying wall for adjustment relative to the inner flange. end'havins openings arranged in transverse rows, with the number of openings in the rows varying so that desired ones of the openings in the inner flange may be uncovered for varying the number of seeds picked up at a time by the wheel.

2. A suction pick-up wheel for seed dispensing devices comprising two sections having lateral annular marginal flanges, one telescoping within the other, means to separably connect said sections, the inner flange having uniformly spaced rows of uniform openings therein, the outer flange being rotatable relative to its carrying wall for adjustment relative to the inner flange and having openings arranged in transverse rows with the number of openings in the rows varying so that desired ones of the openings in the inner flange may be uncovered for varying the number of seeds picked up at a time by the wheel, means to facilitate accurate adjustment of the rotary flange relative to the inner flange, and means to secure said rotary flange in adjusted position.

3. A hollow disk-like suction pickup wheel for seed dispensing devices comprising two sections, each including a circular wall having a lateral annular marginal flange, the flange of one circular wall telescoping with the flange of the other circular wall, the inner flange having uniformly spaced rows of uniform openings therein, the outer flange being rotatably adjustable relative to the inner flange and having openings arranged in transverse rows with the number of openings in the rows varying so that desired ones of the openings in the inner flange may be uncovered for varying the number of seeds picked up at a time by the wheel.

4. In a seed dispensing device, a stationary seed receptacle, a rotatable tubular shaft journaled in one side of said receptacle and having means at its outer end to connect the same to a suction pipe, a suction pickup wheel arranged within said receptacle and secured on the inner end of said shaft, said pickup wheel being in the form of a hollow disk and comprising two sections, each including a circular wall having a lateral annular marginal flange, the flange of one circular wall telescoping within the flange of the other circular wall, the inner flange having uniformly spaced rows of uniform openings therein, the outer flange being rotatably adjustable relative to the inner flange and having openings arranged in transverse rows with the number of openings in the rows varying so that desired ones of the openings in the inner flange may be uncovered for varying the number of seeds picked up at a time by the wheel, said shaft being attached to and opening through the center of one circular wall, and means for rotatably driving said shaft.

EMIL C. ENEBECK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,006,984 Sheetz Oct. 24, 1911 1,371,517 Oliver Mar. 15, 1921 1,637,834 Oliver Aug. 2, 1927 2,152,758 Cox Apr. 4, 1939 2,183,606 Day Dec. 19, 1939 2,384,820 Dodwell Sept. 18,, 1945 

